NCA to leverage pay TV infrastructure - To roll out DTT network
The Director of Engineering at the National Communication Authority (NCA), Mr Henry A. Kanor, has said the NCA would leverage the pay TV infrastructure as an alternative to roll out the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) network.
According to him, this has become necessary due to the delay in government’s-funded DTT network.
He said countries such as Kenya and Tanzania which lacked any national network had been able to successfully leverage on pay TV infrastructure to roll out their DTT network.
“The NCA has, therefore, spoken to the pay TV networks who have agreed they have the capacity and are willing to help,” he said.
Mr Kanor disclosed this in an interview with the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on the first day of the just-ended Arena 2015 Conference which was held from March 3 - 4 in Accra.
Arena 2015 Conference was organised by Bizvis Africa Limited and NGA Novum AB and was aimed at creating the platform for discussions from experts on how to transform the media and telecom industry in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
It also provided a unique opportunity for players in the industry to learn about the various business opportunities thereof and to enable them to position themselves to take advantage of the myriad of business indicators to ensure survival.
Mr Kanor, however, admitted that was going to be a hiccup as they could not roll out to everyone with the pay TV infrastructure.
“But at least some percentage of our population will start receiving digital transmission which will be better than the situation we are facing now,” said Mr Kanor.
Earlier during the opening session of the conference, the Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Krabral Blay- Amhihere, commended the organisers of the meeting for providing another platform for stakeholders to deliberate on accelerating Ghana’s DTT migration process.
He was of the hope that the meeting would foster further understanding among stakeholders to augment the efforts by national stakeholders, including the NCA and the NMC, to ensure stakeholders arrived at consensus to ensure public understanding of the migration process.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NGA Novum AB, Mr Joe Frans, said it was unclear which stage Ghana was currently in with regard to the migration process.
According to him, how and when the migration would eventually take place were also unknown, adding, “All that matters is that it will surely happen, and if it does, actors in the media and the telecommunications industry will either fold up or survive.”
He, therefore, called on all industry players to prepare themselves to embrace the new global transformation to avoid being kicked out of business. GB